Her/His Dreams

Executed in iwa-enogu on paper, Her/His Dreams is a collaborative project from 2022, the title's pronouns indicating a paired or dual perspective—two interior worlds set in dialogue across the same support, or a sequence of paired sheets exchanged between two practitioners. The Nihonga tradition uses powdered minerals such as azurite, malachite, and shell-derived gofun bound in nikawa, producing a granular, light-scattering surface suited to the elusive imagery of the dream subject. Collaborative working is uncommon in classical Nihonga, which emphasises the singular hand of the artist, so the project marks a contemporary departure consistent with Manabe's engagement with European studio practice during and after her ERASMUS+ period in Poland. The work belongs to the same phase of her career as the Mineral Pigments on Intaglio series, though without the etched plate as substrate, and indicates her parallel interest in the painterly possibilities of Nihonga materials independent of printmaking.